Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

a mediation that popped up at just the right time last week from the book of awakening by mark nepo (i've told you about this - it means a lot to me - get it), and it resonated so deeply i feel compelled to share it. for me, it speaks to my issues with passing judgment, handling competition and letting myself get caught up in negativity. if you're part of this wide world of internets, i imagine you experience similar shortcomings.

when feeling stuckthe same stream of lifethat runs through the worldruns through my veins.––rabindranath tagore

we are so achievement-oriented that we often surge right by the true value of relating to what's before us, because we think that accomplishing things will complete us, when it is experiencing life that will.yet, if we can outlast the urge to judge everything we encounter, a miracle starts to surround us in which painting, music, poetry, running water, flowers, wind through trees, opens vistas––all touch and draw out their counterpart that lives quietly within us.the ninenteenth-century poet gerard manley hopkins called this inner terrain "inscape". and just as no landscape can flourish without sun and water, our inscape must be irrigated and drenched with many forms of life if we are to thrive.so, when feeling stuck or disconnected from the miracle of life, as will happen to all of us, try to listen, see, feel, and just take in. try to let the energies of life stir their counterparts within you.in order to be whole, suspend your criticism. for life is not a matter of taste, but of awakening, not a matter of finding things pleasing or disturbing, but of finding things completing, not a matter of liking or disliking, but of opening the geography of one's soul.

Monday, February 23, 2015

my living room, much like my kitchen, is a hodge podge of collected things that weren't picked together, or planned out, but rather curated, in fits and starts of must-have moments and make-it-work compromises.

there's a new sofa on the way - finally, and i think once that's in, the little red living room that could will finally can. until then, it's the little things i'm happy to surround myself with (and there's no shortage of them). the room is chock-full of things i love: mementos from trips, gifts from friends, photos, books, tiny treat-myself treasures, and family heirlooms. it makes the microfiber sofa a bit more bearable, for the time being.

the moral of the story is we can't always get a room just right. the budget may not be there, mistakes will be made, and things get ruined. but it doesn't need to be perfect if it's authentic. i think that's why i'm a 'maximalist' decorator at heart. it allows for mistakes. it embraces them. it never calls for perfection, but rather it's forgiving and has a sense of humor. a great room to me is like a good friend. it can inspire, but never intimidate. it invites but doesn't judge. and it's approachable, never too precious.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

i know everyone is onto this declutter feng shui tidying-up tangent (this book) and i totally think that's valid and reasonable. achievable - for me? no. more is more in my book. surround yourself with the things you love and you can't go wrong. case in point: the home of libby callway at home in nashville photographed for the selby